Show I THE rOLICE INVESTIGATION It Is to be regretted that tho police investigation in-vestigation which has been going on for tho past few weeks was not conducted with open doors Had that course bean pursued the public would have known whether or not the charges against the chiefs of the department wero sustained As it is there Is more or less doubt Only fragments of the testimony have beau published and these seem to have been gathered from witnesses on the street at odd times and strung together in a haphazard way without with-out effort to make a connected story If the inquiry was as badly jumbled and disconnected dis-connected as the published reports of the testimony the surprise is that any two members of the police committee were able to agree upon any sort of report The police ara the officials who come in direct contact with the people and the latter should bo fully informed as to tho character and reliability of those officials Wo say that the inquiry should have been public the complainants and accusers being free to present their casein case-in the most effective manner and the accused ac-cused having equal freedom to defend themselves by doing all they could to ro fute tho charges Then the best judge the publicwould have been able to decide between the two parties giving a verdict which could not have been appealed from However enough has come to light through the street talk and the two reports presented to the council on Tuesday evening even-ing to convince everybody that the police department is in a sadly demoralized state and should be at once reorganized There can be no dispute asto this The patrolmen patrol-men aro at loggerheads among themselves and the majority of them are at outs with their superiors Favoritism is undoubtedly un-doubtedly shown some of tho policemen being given better assignments than I others and the officers making it a point I to show their dislike of certain patrolmen who have incurred their displeasure It would also seem that the tempers of some of the officers are hasty and ungovernable violent and profane and even filthy language lan-guage appears to be common We respectfully submit that so long as the department is in its present condition condi-tion effective service cannot be performed per-formed and tho public must suffer in consequence There must be discipline or the service will he faulty and the disciplino must not be that which in enforced by the superior in office haughtily lording it over the subordina tea but that which is inspired by proper rel Bpecton the part of subordinate for his officer There must also bo confidence between be-tween the men and between tho officers and the patrolmen otherwue just such an unsatisfactory and unhappy state of affairs that has prevailed for so long will con tinue Another thing which has been demon otratcd to the satisfaction of the public is that while the complainants in the proceedings proceed-ings may not all be the right men in the right places the accused are clearly the wrong men for the positions they occupy They should be made to go and successors appointed who know better how to exercise exer-cise authority who know how to command tho confidence and respect of men and who will use language more in keeping with the decencies and proprioties to say nothing of the law S The council has not yet finished with the business It will have another wrestle with tho reports at tho next regular meeting meet-ing But to our way of thinking the case is one for the mayor to handle He is tho chief executive officer of the city and ass as-s such is responsible to the people for the maintenance of a proper police forca He appoints tho policemen and has power to remove at pleasure If an officer or a policeman po-liceman is not doing his duty is not a proper pro-per person for the position is lacking in the rscessary qualifications and the facts cometo tho knowledge of the mayor it is the duty of the latter to at once make a Change His honor must be aware of the S demoralization which prevails and as the real head of the department ho should act promptly going so far if necessary in the interest efflciencyas to relieve every man on tho force and appoint others who will serve the public as policemen should serve it |